Rescue Me
by MyNameIsCrazy
Summary: She was brought to the island by the Shadow. He was a Lost Boy. She was found by mermaids, then by Emma and her crew. This is their story.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Once Upon A Time! Just saying...**

* * *

The leaves whipped past me as I ran from the Lost Boys. I was a girl. They didn't want girls. I escaped, but barely. I set off an alarm type mechanism that let them know where I was. Luckily, I managed to dart into dense jungle foliage without anyone noticing. But then my heart nearly stopped.

There were heavy footfalls behind me. Cracks and crashes of downed branches. I tripped and fell, tearing the hem of my nightdress. The dirt was gritty and my hands were scraped and stated oozing. They caught up to me, whoever was behind me. I looked around and gasped. They leaned over me and...

held out their hand to help me up. I cowered back, expecting a trap, but there was none. The boy put one arm under my knees and the other under my back and instead hoisted me up to his chest, holding me tightly. He was gentle with me, not rough at all. It was strange behavior from a Lost a Boy, at least that I had experienced.

"You're safe now my lady," he whispered, and started to run.

It was bumpy in his arms, but still, I huddled closer to him, closing my eyes. He held me tighter and his grip tightened as well.

When he stopped, he set me down and laid me out against a rock, so that I reclined comfortably. I looked at him as he built a campfire and sat up. I pulled my knees up to my chest, nightshift tattered and dirty, and sighed.

"Who are you?" I asked the boy by the fire. He looked up at me and removed his hood. I gasped.

He was no older than me. His gray eyes were silver in the firelight, his blond hair copper. "I'll tell you who I am if you tell me who you are," he bargained. I shrugged. It was a reasonable bargain.

"I'm Elizabeth," I smiled. "Pleased to meet you. But now you have to tell me who you are." I smiled at him again, but his face was still stony. I sighed. Maybe he was always like this.

"My name is Felix," he whispered. I sat down cross legged and he laid his head down in my lap. I had half a mind to push him away, to crawl to the other side of the fire away from him, but I changed my mind. I ran my fingers through his blond hair and caressed hus neck with my left hand. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"We don't take girls here. Those who come here are brought back quickly. I'm glad you ran," Felix said to me. He still had his eyes closed and he folded his hands over his chest and crossed his ankles. "I miss having girls here. Wendy was particularly Peter Pan's, but she wasn't that pretty, so it wasn't hard. But you," he added, sitting up. I looked at him with a confused look on my face.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. He sat up and looked at me, then leaned closer to me and swallowed nervously. I bit my lip and sat still, blinking multiple times, my gaze falling on his eyes and his lips.

"You're amazing," he whispered, barely audible. I cringed back. He didn't even know me.

"You don't even-" But he cut me off.

He closed his eyes and our lips met. It was my first real kiss and it felt so right. I leaned into his kiss and put my hands on his face smiling against the kiss.

Then it was over. "I'm sorry," he said, pulling away and standing up.

"Felix, what is it?" I asked from the ground.

"You, this," he answered, talking about me and the kiss. "It can't happen. Peter span will be furious. I have to go. Stay on the bay side of the island, near the sea. I will come to you every day with supplies. Wait for me by the rock caverns," he added and ran off into the woods.

But then he came back. He hoisted me up and kissed me ferociously, then backed up, smiled hastily and ran away. I was left standing there, dumbstruck at what just happened. And I ran. Like Felix had told me to.

I got to the shore and was face with a tempest and waves as tall as me. They swept me out to sea and smashed me against the shore. Then the tempest ended and there I was, the breath knocked out of me, chest rising and falling heavily, half dead it felt like.

I felt gentle hands on my arms and ankles, pulling me off the shore and carrying me off. I didn't dare open my eyes and look in fear that the Lost Boys had me captive.

"Do not be afraid, sister," a soft female voice said to me. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath only to breath in salty air. I coughed and spluttered and the hands set me down gently on a large sea sponge. I looked at the women who rescued me and sat up.

"Who are you?" I asked them gently. They smiled and one cocked her head. She flicked her fins out of the water and I gasped. They were mermaids, all of them. I shimmied back and pulled my legs back.

"Do not be afraid," another said. From the water, she pulled a small glowing phial from the water. "Take this. It will help you."

She handed me the phial and I uncorked it. "What is it?" I asked, looking into the phial hesitantly.

"We normally don't do this, but it is a potion made from shed scales and sea water. It will turn you into a mermaid, like us," the mermaid with a shell tiara and black hair said to me. I gaped at her.

"Are you serious?" I asked, bewildered. They smiled and nodded. I looked at it again and, without hesitation, I backed it, draining the phial.


	2. Chapter 2

Pain shot through my legs. I yelped in agony and rolled off the side of the rock bed and into the water. Bubbles rushed to the surface and I tried to kick my legs to get air, but there were no legs to move. Only one long, shimmery blue tail. And water was as easy to breathe as air itself. I pumped to the surface and the other mermaids, my new sisters, smiled at me.

"Welcome to your new clan, sister," the mermaid with the dark hair said to me. I beamed. I was rarely called sister. And I never, in my life, had a clan. I was beginning to really like my new life.

"Go on. Take your first swim," a blond mermaid added, smiling. I nodded and dove beneath the surface, seeing and feeling as I never had before. My sight was enhanced, my arms stronger, and my tail more powerful than both of my legs combined. I knew right away that I was never going to leave the sea for anyone.

* * *

I was walking along the shore, looking for my sweet Elizabeth, a large basket of food and supplies on my back. It was dawn, the camp wasn't awake yet, so I managed to escape. The waves crashed gently on the beach and something white caught my attention.

I dropped the basket and ran over to the cloth in the surf. It was Elizabeth's nightdress she was wearing the night before. I picked up the soggy cloth and held it to my chest.

"ELIZABETH!" I bellowed into the sea air. Where had she gone? What happened over night? Next to her dress there was a large pink shell and a small phial inside. I picked out the phial and inside that was a note. I uncorked the phial and shook out the note and uncoiled it. It was written in squid ink. The only creatures I knew of that wrote in squid ink were...

No. She was kidnapped by them. She had to have been. They never take anyone into their clan. Ever. I never liked the mermaids. Now this gave me even more reason not to. A tail flicked over the surface and I grimaced. I was being watched by one of the sea witches themselves.

* * *

I hid behind a large rock, watching the shore and Felix there as well. I cringed when he called out my name and tears leaked out of my eyes. He didn't even bother to read my note either. I dove beneath the surface, my tail flicking over the water. I covered my eyes as soon as I was underwater and wept. I wanted to tell him so badly, to let him know I was alright. But I couldn't. I wanted to run back to him desperately.

I felt like the water was closing in on me, and like my tail was ripped apart up the middle. I could no longer breathe and I felt like I was drowning. I tried to pump up to the surface but my tail was weak. I looked down.

Two scrawny legs flailed about beneath me. I kicked to the surface and reemerged, taking big gulps of sea air. Felix was still there on the shore, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest. I followed the surf over to the beach and into the cavern. I decided, since no one had claimed it, that I was going to make it my home when I was on shore.

I climbed out of the water and looked around. Another mermaid had followed me, a redhead.

"The potion they gave you is only temporary. You will be human during the day, a mermaid at night. Use your time wisely," she said. "By the way, I'm Ariel." She smiled at me and dove beneath the surface. I stood up and looked down at my body. I was still wearing the shells from last night but my tail was replaced with a hip wrap of shimmery blue fabric, and a netting with shells stitched on, exactly like I wore in my mer form.

I ran out of my cavern and onto the beach. But I stopped halfway and started walking. Felix continued glaring out over the water and didn't even hear me sit down. I put my hand on his shoulder and he jumped.

"Elizabeth!" he cried. He pulled me into a tight hug, his head nestling into the crook of my neck. I smiled and hugged him back, then pulled away. He seemed surprised but smiled. Then his smile fell.

"What are you wearing?" he demanded angrily.

"I was saved last night on the beach by the mermaids. Don't be angry. High tide caught me and almost dragged me out to sea. They came to my rescue. They took me in and made me one of them. I only have twelve hours as a human," I said, kneeling on the sand. I tried to put my hand on his shoulder but he jerked away from me.

"I told you I was going to protect you," he muttered angrily. He looked at me and I quickly ensnared him in a kiss. I cupped his cheeks and pressed my lips to his, trying to stifle his anger towards me.

I guessed it worked because he wrapped an arm around my waist and then the other and pulled me on top of him, he two of us lying in the sand.


End file.
